Tony Hart Centenary Exhibition

About

Creative Maidstone is delighted to present a retrospective centenary exhibition of work by the much-loved TV artist Tony Hart who was born in Maidstone on 15 October 1925.  The collection, which will be on display from 11^th October to 8^th November, has been carefully selected by Tony Hart’s daughter, Carolyn Ross.

 

Everyone who watched Vision On, Take Hart or Hart Beat will know that Tony Hart could make a picture out of anything – corrugated cardboard, sand, string, vegetables, inkblot - the list is endless!  Some of these artworks will be on show in the exhibition, alongside his cartoon characters which undoubtedly made him a household name.

 

Something that may come as more of a surprise, is that Tony Hart was also a superb portrait artist.  Capturing people in a carefully arranged pose or quickly sketching someone who was unaware they were being watched, he had the ability to produce wonderful atmospheric artworks developed from simple pencil sketches, and the exhibition features some of these portraits.

 

Whilst Tony Hart was largely known for his drawing and painting, he also wrote many books on how to draw and, if you couldn’t draw, how to make pictures in other ways. Some of the original artworks that he created for his book Paint & Draw with Tony Hart published by Kaye & Ward feature in the exhibition and illustrates just how incredible his artistic ability truly was. These range from modern art in the style of Jackson Pollock to his original design of the Blue Peter Ship – and it’s just possible there might be an appearance from his mischievous little co-presenter Morph!

 

A fitting tribute to mark his centenary, this exhibition presents a rare opportunity to see the work of this celebrated artist and national children’s television icon in the setting of a local gallery.